Silver Linings
by Rivan Warrioress
Summary: After being caught coming home late after helping defeat the Master, Willow is sent by the Rosenbergs (actually her Aunt and Uncle) back to her mother...who just happens to be Iron Man's Girlfriend, the famous Pepper Potts.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own or imply that I have ownership of the characters, locations and other recognisable features within this story. **Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and The Avengers is the property of Marvel. I own nothing except for a warped imagination.

Natasha Romanoff looked up from the newspaper she was reading when Pepper approached her, clasping a cup of coffee in her hands and shifting her feet nervously from side to side.

"Could I talk to you... privately somewhere?" Pepper asked in a quiet voice, glancing over at Steve and Bruce, who were sitting on the couches in the living area that the Avengers all shared. Frowning, Natasha nodded, putting her newspaper aside and heading towards the elevator, followed by Pepper. They headed up to the level that Clint and Natasha shared. Clint was down in the gym and both women knew the archer well enough to know that that he wouldn't surface for another hour or so.

Natasha eyed her friend suspiciously. Although there had been some tension between them early on, ever since Natasha had moved into the Avengers Tower, she and Pepper had been good friends, united by the fact that they were the only women living in a tower with a group of men.

"What is it?" Natasha asked when Pepper didn't start to speak. Pepper looked around, although she knew that they were alone. No one would risk entering Clint and Natasha's domain without the approval of either assassin. Natasha was scary enough on her own... but when you added Clint into the bargain, they became downright terrifying. Pepper was sure there were criminals across the world that had nightmares about the famous Black Widow and Hawkeye.

"I know that SHIELD has a folder on me that you helped build... and that you guys looked into my past and all that entails, especially my past medical records and the like." Natasha nodded, developing a suspicion that she knew what this was about.

"Have you read those files in their entirety, including what happened when I was eighteen?"

Natasha nodded, her suspicions confirmed.

"I know," she elaborated. Pepper nodded, rising to her feet and beginning to pace.

"I was foolish to think that the current... state of affairs would last. I got a phone call from my sister last week. Willow got into a fight and she's been... rebelling a little lately, according to my sister. She thinks Willow needs a change of scenery, a permanent change of scenery."

"Your sister wants your daughter to come and live here... permanently?" Natasha asked. "Has she not realized where you live?"

Pepper shook her head. "No, she knows where I live and who I am involved with but reading between the lines, it's more of a case of my sister thinking that I'm old enough now to look after my own child and now that Willow's not being the perfect child that Sheila always wanted, I can have her back."

Natasha pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Does Tony know about this?" she asked. Pepper nodded, sitting back down.

"Yes, he knows. I told him right after the phone call, right before I called Willow. She knew nothing about Sheila's plan until she happened to overhear her telling me about it on the phone. She was devastated… She's got lots of strong friendships in that town and she's lived there since she was four. It's one thing to come and stay with me every summer, like she has ever since she moved in with Sheila, but permanently..." Pepper broke off. Natasha could see the resentment pouring off Pepper, not directed at Willow but instead at Sheila and the way she handled the discussion.

"Tony and Willow get along well together. She was eight when they first met. He was so gentle with her... he took her under his wing. By the time she was ten, they were working on projects together."

Natasha smiled at the mental image of Tony and a ten-year-old girl working on a project together. She'd seen a photo of Willow in Pepper's classified SHIELD file. It had been taken at one point when Willow was staying with Pepper and Tony after Natasha had first met them. The teenager had been looking at the camera, a shy smile on her face as she leaned casually against a wall.

"I don't see what's worrying you, Pepper. I mean, yes, the circumstances are not the best. It would have been better if you and Willow had been consulted but I'm sure Willow will be happy to come and live with you."

"That's the thing, though... it's not just me. It's Tony and you and Clint and Bruce and Steve and Thor when he's here... and I wouldn't be surprised if Jane moves in with us too. What are they going to say when they find out that my teenage daughter is coming to live with us?"

Natasha paused. "Pepper, I have nothing against children and I know that Clint is good with children. There have been times on missions when we've worked with children and he's been so good with them... Although I hardly believe that Willow could be classed as a child now... how old is she, fifteen?"

Pepper nodded. "She'll turn sixteen over the summer. She's always spent her birthday with me."

"I hardly think that almost sixteen years old could be classed as being a child. I can't imagine Steve or Thor or Bruce having a problem with Willow."

Pepper shook her head, knowing that by the time Natasha was Willow's age she had already killed numerous people. Willow was mature for her age, most of the time more mature than Tony was, but at the same time Pepper still saw her daughter as the little girl that she had sorrowfully let her older sister raise... eleven years ago.

Natasha look at her friend, seeing how much Pepper was worrying about it. She shook her head sympathetically. "Pepper, I think you're overthinking this," she told her friend. "Willow will be fine living at the tower. I mean... yes, it is a little more dangerous than what I imagine a normal life for a teenage girl would be, but think about it. She has six superheroes living with her, one of whom is dating her mother."

Pepper nodded, conceding to herself that Natasha had a good point. It would be unlikely that any of the team would have anything against Willow moving in with them and Pepper had no doubt at all that any of them would do all they could to protect Willow from harm.

"Thank you, Natasha. I... I just needed to talk everything through with someone."

"Don't mention it," Natasha nodded, letting a smile cross her face. "I must admit, I look forward to meeting Willow. I've been curious about her ever since I learned that she existed."

"Well... Willow finishes school in two weeks. You'll get to meet her when she comes here after that."

"When are you going to tell the others?"

"Tonight, I guess... to give them as much time as possible to process the information and get used to the idea."

Natasha nodded, approving of the plan.

"Better get this over and done with then." Pepper shrugged getting to her feet and heading for the elevator. Natasha hesitated for a moment before she followed her friend. She wanted to be there to support Pepper... and to see the look on Steve's face when he found out he would be living with a 21st century teenage girl. The Black Widow actually smirked at the mental picture and contemplated getting a camera but then she figured that Jarvis would have the whole thing on security feed, so there was no point.

The two women rode down the elevator to the common area together. The rest of the residents of the tower had assembled. Clint has resurfaced from the gym and Tony and Thor had returned from wherever they had been when Pepper had first sought out Natasha.

Tony crossed over to them the moment he spotted the two women and Natasha gave Pepper an encouraging smile before she moved away, towards Clint and Steve.

"You okay?" Tony asked, stroking Pepper's cheek softly. Pepper leaned her head into the embrace before nodding.

"Yeah... just let us get this over and done with."

"Okay." Tony nodded before kissing Pepper comfortingly on the mouth. Pepper sighed.

'Thank you," she whispered to him. Tony took Pepper's hand in his own and together they turned to face the rest of the Avengers.

"I... uh... I need to tell you guys something," Pepper announced and the Avengers all looked at her curiously.

"What's up?"

"In a couple of weeks, my daughter will be coming to live with us. She spends every summer staying with me... wherever that may be but, er... as of today, it's been decided that it'll become permanent. I was planning on telling you guys about her today anyway but I got a phone call from my sister this morning and I realized how much this could change things."

There were a few moments of silence before one of the Avengers spoke and it was Bruce who broke the silence.

"How old is she?" he asked.

"She's fifteen, almost sixteen. Her name is Willow. She's clever, she loves computers and reading, and she's not very social. She has a couple of friends but not many."

"Does she know about... us?" Steve asked apprehensively.

"I haven't seen her since the New York attack but I've spoken to her on the phone and through emails. She knows all the Avengers are living together at Tony Stark's tower and naturally she know where that is, so yeah... she knows that she's going to be living with the Avengers. I'm not quite sure if she's scared or excited about that, though... I think it's excitement. It was hard to tell on the phone today... she was kind of crying and she talks quickly at the best of times."

"Have you met her before?" The question from Bruce was directed at Tony, who nodded.

"Yeah, she first met me when she was a little kid. I can't believe that she's almost sixteen... She still thought Disney movies where the best thing in the world when we first met. Willow's a good kid, though. She sometimes helps me out in the lab, definitely has a genius-level brain in that head of hers. She doesn't act like a teenager, though. She's actually one of the most mature people I know."

Steve had a curious expression on his face but Pepper could tell that he was too polite to ask the question that was burning in his mind. Smiling reassuringly at Steve, she answered the unasked question.

"I found out I was pregnant just after I turned eighteen, a few days after I graduated high school. I was able to apply to defer going to college until after the baby was born, so I got a job and worked hard right up until a few weeks before my due date, trying to give the baby a good start to life. After Willow was born, I looked after her. My parents were really supportive and they helped me look after her while I was at classes and work. Once I graduated from college, when Willow was almost four, my sister and her husband discovered that they couldn't have children. My parents were getting too old to look after a preschooler by then and I already had a job at Stark Industries, so they offered to take Willow in so that her routine wouldn't be disrupted by my working. I agreed, thinking it was the best thing for her... and it probably was. Willow got enrolled in a good school early and she's grown into a wonderful person. Not a day passes that I'm not proud of her," Pepper told the group.

"That must have been hard," Steve offered.

Pepper nodded. "It was... but Willow was better off. My sister and brother-in-law were able to give Willow the stability she needed when I wasn't able to. I don't appreciate how Sheila, my sister, has treated Willow recently... but I do appreciate how she looked after Willow when she was younger."

"It's not like it would have been hard, though." Tony shrugged. "The kid has never put a toe out of line. She's even more of a goody-two-shoes than Steve."

"Until now, apparently," Pepper sighed. Tony was right, though. The idea of Willow getting into a fight and breaking curfew sounded very out of character for her. Willow respected the law, although Pepper did have a sneaking suspicion that Tony had given Willow a few hints when it came to hacking. She didn't exactly approve of the influence Tony had on Willow but at the same time Pepper was thrilled with how Tony treated Willow. He was so good with her, mentoring her and helping her to extend on her knowledge as much as she could, recognizing her intelligence for what it was. It had made Pepper aware of how good a father Tony might be someday.

Not that she was going to be the one who told him that... not until it was warranted, anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

Willow sat in her bedroom, her legs drawn up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them with her chin resting on her knee. Everything around her was packed away, everything she was taking with her to New York. She ignored the feeling of tears rolling down her face, knowing that the moment she wiped the tears away more would fall from her eyes. Willow closed her eyes and sniffed when she heard the car pull up outside her aunt and uncle's house, knowing that it would be the car that took her away from Sunnydale for at least the next two years.

Willow still remembered the vicious tirade she had received from her aunt the night she stumbled through the door, the night that they had defeated the Master, before waking up to overhear her aunt talking on the phone, telling her mother that Willow was no longer welcome in her aunt's household.

It had been the first time Willow's aunt and uncle had been home to witness the aftermath of Willow's new extracurricular activities. Previously they had been out of town for long enough that Willow could heal or that she could simply hide any injuries she had. Willow couldn't help but scowl at her bad luck. The one time she had received injuries to her face (a shallow gash to the forehead and a split lip), her aunt and uncle had been sitting up waiting for her to come home... actually deciding to even pretend they were good guardians for once.

Willow heard her mother's voice drifting up the stairs, calm, but at the same time firm. Willow instinctively knew just from her mother's voice how angry Pepper was. It wasn't like she was talking to Tony and she was mildly frustrated or annoyed about something not working out right. No, this was a whole new level of anger... and it was all directed at Sheila and Ira. For a moment, Willow actually pitied her aunt and uncle... but only for a moment.

Slumping back against her pillows, Willow listened as her mother's conversation downstairs ended and she heard the sound of footsteps coming upstairs. Willow knew she should get up and at least look mildly presentable to her mother after almost a whole year apart but she couldn't muster the energy. The toll physically and emotionally of the past few traumatic days had been great and Willow's body was feeling the effects.

It was, after all, not every day that you found out that your best friend's death was prophesied to happen very shortly and wss directly involved with an apocalypse... as in an event that could well lead to the end of the world. It wasn't every day that one of your best friends actually died and was resuscitated back to life by your other best friend before coming and preventing said apocalypse. It also wasn't every day that you yourself fought against an army of vampires and almost got dragged through the mouth of hell itself by a tentacle demon.

Almost unconsciously, Willow rubbed her leg where her skin, currently hidden by her jeans, was bruised and burnt. Giles had examined the injury and concluded that it was not serious and that there was little he could do. It wasn't painful, so Willow didn't mind. She only hoped that she would be able to continue to hide the injury until it had completely healed. She didn't want to have to try and explain the supernatural to her mother, after all... even though, considering that her mother now lived with Tony Stark and the Avengers, the truth about the supernatural really wouldn't be that much of a surprise from what Pepper had told Willow during their phone calls and emails.

Willow was drawn from her musing by the sound of a footstep outside her room and she hastily lowered her leg, making sure her pants and socks covered her injury. There was a knock on the door.

"Willow?" Pepper asked in a soft voice and Willow felt her eyes well up with more tears at the gentle sound of her mother's voice.

"Yeah?" she croaked out and the door swung open, revealing Pepper. Pepper's gaze rested on Willow and she rushed to Willow's side, sitting on the bed beside her and hugging her. Willow sobbed and wrapped her arms around her mother, snuggling close, just like she used to do when she was small and had been frightened by something.

"I'm so sorry," Pepper told Willow. "If I knew they were going to do this, I would never have let you stay with them. I would have kept you with me... always. I would have found a way to make it work. I never thought that they would hurt you like this, that they would treat you like this."

Willow shook her head, aware that she was dampening her mother's shirt with her tears.

"You couldn't have known. I shouldn't have caused trouble. I'm sorry, Mom. It's my fault... I was the one that broke the rules. They were right to want to punish me."

Pepper ran her fingers through Willow's hair.

"Maybe they were right to punish you but not like this... not by casting you out of their home like this, not by tearing away from all your friends, from your school, from the town you've grown up in. You're young... this is what being young is all about. You've always been such a grown-up, even when you were a little girl. It's okay to want to rebel... it's all part of growing up. Trust me, Tony is still rebelling and he's far older than you are."

Willow quirked her eyebrow at her mother's comment.

"Are you the psychologist, or is Sheila?" she asked.

Pepper laughed. "I read her college textbooks during the summers when I was growing up. I actually learned some things off them. It was actually useful... it helped me learn how to deal with Tony."

Willow let out a laugh at her mother's joke.

"Did Tony come with you?" she asked.

"No. We thought that... given everything that's happening, it would be best if it was just me. He's looking forward to you coming and living with us, though. He's happy that he'll have his favorite little lab partner back. The others are, too... Steve and Thor just haven't interacted much with teenagers before... modern day teenagers, anyway."

"Please tell me that Tony isn't showing them movies to give them an idea of what to expect... because you know just as well as I do that I don't really follow the stereotype of a teenaged girl."

Pepper laughed, "No, nothing like that. He's already been raving about how great you are. though. You know how Tony is."

Willow snorted and nodded, her cheeks coloring slightly. Even though she and Tony Stark had known each other for years, Willow still couldn't believe that she knew the famous inventor and businessman and that he actually liked her and didn't brush her aside like she wasn't important. From day one, Willow and Tony had gotten along and the inventor had taken her under his wing, teaching her what he could about areas of his work that she was interested in (within reason). Willow remembered when Tony had been kidnapped in Afghanistan and how she had cried when she had found out he was missing and again how she had cried when he had returned. The first time she saw him after that was after he had publicly announced his identity as Iron Man. At the tender age of eleven, Willow hadn't thought twice about running up to Tony to embrace, sobbing into his shoulder. She remembered how his arms had felt as he hugged her back, greeting her with a cheerful smile.

"Hey, squirt... did you miss me?" he had said. Willow had simply nodded before cuddling close to his chest, her eyes drawn to the blue glow beneath the fabric of his t-shirt.

"Does it hurt?" she had asked at the time and Tony had been quick to reassure her that it didn't.

Not only did Willow admire Tony for his intellect and how he treated her, but what she most admired about him was the genuine way he cared about her mother. Pepper's life had been a lonely one, up until she had begun to work for Tony, and Willow had noticed how much happier Pepper had become ever since she and Tony had started dating about two years before.

While Willow was silent, obviously lost in her thoughts, Pepper looked around the room. It looked like Willow had been busy packing. It had probably helped that Willow had already been packed for her summer vacation in New York, so there had been less things for Willow to pack once she had learned that the move was going to be permanent.

"When... when do you want to leave? I have lots of time off, so if you want to stay around for a few more weeks, you can," Pepper offered. Willow, however, shook her head, drawing back away from Pepper so she could look up at her mother's face.

"No. Maybe another day or two... so I can say goodbye to my friends properly. They already know that... that I'm leaving town. I called them after I got off the phone with you. Buffy and Xander helped me pack but Buffy had to pack up her own stuff too. She's spending the summer with her dad in L.A."

Pepper nodded in understanding. She knew that for Willow the hardest thing about leaving Sunnydale would be leaving Xander behind. Pepper had met the boy on numerous occasions over the years and she found him to be a very nice young man. Pepper wondered how much the boy had grown since the last time she had seen him, the previous fall.

"Tony still has his house at Malibu. One weekend we might come down and you could invite Xander and Buffy over?" Pepper suggested. "It's not too far, we might even do it before school starts back."

"Really?" Willow asked, her voice brightening at the prospect of not being completely cut off from her friends. Pepper smiled and ruffled Willow's long red hair.

"Of course. I'm not going to cut you off completely from your life here, you know," Pepper teased gently. Willow hugged her mother, a smile spreading across her face.

"Thank you, Mom," she said. Pepper simply rubbed her daughter's back and smiled sadly.

BtVS/AVENGERS

"You better make sure that you look after yourself, okay, Willow?" Buffy said as she hugged Willow one last time, in front of the Summers' residence. Willow nodded.

"I promise. Although, I will be living with, like, six superheroes... I think I'm going to be pretty safe."

"Yeah, but because of those six superheroes there's, like, fifty million enemies that would love to use you to get to them," Buffy argued, still slightly morbid after recent events. Willow nodded.

"I know, Buffy, and I promise that I will do all I can to make sure nothing happens to me," she said in a serious voice. Buffy pulled back and clapped Willow on the shoulder. Willow almost stumbled forward at the force behind the gesture.

"Just be careful. Don't do anything that I wouldn't do," the Slayer finished.

"Well, that leaves things very open," Xander butted in teasingly and Buffy swatted him on the arm while Willow laughed.

"I'll be sensible. From what my mom's told me, things are crazy enough in that house without me being reckless to add to it. I think Mom going to need me to help control the others."

Xander smiled, pulling Willow into a hug. "Just hit them with your Resolve Face and they'll do whatever it is you want. That's your superhero ability, the Resolve Face."

Willow laughed, feeling better about the separation than she thought she would. Of course, she and Xander had promised to exchange phone calls and emails and Buffy had insisted on getting told regularly about all the gossip from Manhattan.

Still, despite knowing that she would still have contact with her friends in Sunnydale, Willow felt herself tear up a little in Xander's arms. Around the three teens, others were tearing up too. Willow had already said her goodbyes to her aunt and uncle back at their house and she had also said goodbye to Joyce and Giles, who was furiously polishing his glasses and trying to hide the fact that his eyes were brimming with tears. Willow felt moisture drip down onto her head and realized that Xander was crying too.

"You've been my best friend my whole life, Wills," Xander whispered, "and when I think of the best moments of my life, you're in them all. You've always been there for me, no matter what. I... I just want to say that you're the best friend I could ever have and even though you live on the other side of the country, you're still my best friend and no one, not even Buffy, could take your place."

"Thank you, Xander," Willow murmured, "and I feel the exact same way. You're always going to be my best friend, Xander."

"I'll see you soon, okay?" Xander asked and Willow nodded.

"You better keep in touch," she threatened, "or I'll set Buffy on you."

Xander laughed. "I'll check my emails every day and I promise that we'll talk on the phone heaps."

"Good," Willow nodded. Xander tightened his grip on her.

"I wish you didn't have to go," he said in a whisper.

Willow nodded. "I do too but I can't do anything about it. I have to go. You never know, I might be able to save the world or do something crazy like that."

Xander laughed. "Just as long as you don't get hurt or anything."

"I promise that I'll try," Willow said honestly before pulling away, having already lingered in Xander's arms a little longer than what was deemed strictly necessary.

"You look after him, okay, Buffy?" Willow called as she walked towards the waiting car, where her mother and Tony's chauffeur, Happy, were standing together, watching the farewells. Willow nodded.

"Always," she called back. Willow nodded in reply and gave a single wave before turning her back and walking the rest of the way to the car. Happy opened the door and Pepper got in, Willow sliding in afterwards, lowering the window so she could wave out at her friends.

Happy got into the car and it accelerated slowly down the street. Willow kept waving until they turned around a corner and she stopped, leaning her head back against the headrest. She felt a hand close around her own.

"Are you okay, Willow?" Pepper asked. Willow felt a few tears roll down her cheeks as they passed the sign that welcomed travelers to Sunnydale.

"Not really," she admitted, "but I will be."


End file.
